bridge to Lobau was broken once again and the Emperor had ordered a
general retreat to the island. In almost the last fighting on the mainland,
Marshal Lannes had both legs smashed by a cannonball. His limbs were
amputated but gangrene set in and he did not recover, lingering in
feverish agony fo r eight days before succumbing on 31 May. Predictably,
Bonapartist propaganda elevated his death into a 'glorious death for
France and the Emperor' apotheosis.
The French withdrew to the island of Lobau, cut the bridge linking
the mainland from its moorings and drew it back on to the island. Heavily
outnumbered, Napoleon had been defeated - a fact his propaganda
machine worked hard to conceal. But Austrian propaganda was just as
mendacious: twenty-five French generals and Napoleon himself were said
to have perished in a Cannae-style debacle. Despite heroic deeds by
Lannes, the Grande Armee had been worsted and the fault was the
Emperor's. He made two bad mistakes: giving battle without knowing
Charles's numbers, and failing to assemble his entire army on Lobau first.
The Austrians sustained 23,3 40 casualties, the French probably in the
region of 2o-22,ooo; Napoleon, naturally, lied and claimed his casualty
figures were 4, roo.
At Aspern-Essling the Emperor lost his reputation for invincibility.
For thirty-six hours after the battle he remained in an indecisive brown
study, apparently stupefied by the setback. Fortunately, perhaps, the
Austrians made no attempt, either then or later, to take Lobau; it was
almost as though they could not believe their luck in having beaten the
Corsican ogre. By 24 May Napoleon was himself again and next day the
bridge from Lobau to the south bank was reopened, allowing the French
finally to evacuate their wounded, who had lain in the open fo r forty
eight hours. Napoleon was aware that he faced one of the great crises of
his life, for unless he retrieved his reputation with a great victory
Germany would rise behind him.
It has to be conceded that Bonaparte recovered well fr om the initial
paralysis after Aspern-Essling, fo r the gloomy news he received while on
Lobau would have been enough to demolish a lesser man. Following the
initial French setbacks in Italy, a serious insurrection broke out in the
Tyrol, headed by the charismatic figure Andreas Hofer. There had been
serious military stirrings in Germany, prompted by the new spirit of
nationalism. In Westphalia Major Schill was attempting guerrilla warfare
while in Saxony the Duke of Brunswick's son and his 'hussars of death'
were on the rampage; this so-called 'black legion' cut a swathe through
the cities of Dresden, Leipzig, Brunswick, Hanover and Bremen. In Paris
there were rumours of popular discontent and plots, and hard news of a
marcin
(Marcin)
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